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Trombley v. Starr-Wood Cardiac Group6/16/2000
No. 5288
Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Peter A. Michalski, Judge.
I. INTRODUCTION
Barbara and Dale Trombley sued Starr-Wood Cardiac Group and its employees Drs. Aftab Ahmad, Hazem Barmada, and Harold Randecker for medical malpractice. The superior court granted summary judgment on all claims in favor of the defendants. We reverse with respect to Barbara Trombley's claims, as there are genuine issues of material fact. But we affirm with respect to Dale Trombley's claim for loss of consortium, as Barbara Trombley was married to another man at the time of the alleged malpractice, and no consortium claim may be maintained under such circumstances.
II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A. Facts
In late August or early September 1991, Barbara Trombley (Trombley) began to experience shortness of breath and chest pain. Her doctor found an arterial blockage and, realizing that she was at risk for a heart attack, scheduled surgery for a few days later. Doctors from the Starr-Wood Cardiac Group were selected to perform the surgery. When Dr. Storm Floten and Dr. Randecker explained to Trombley how the surgery would proceed, she requested that any vein harvested from her leg be taken from her left leg, because she had a prior history of phlebitis (blockage of the veins) in her right leg. Her doctors assured her that they would use a vein from her left leg. The surgery was eventually performed on October 8, 1991, not by Dr. Floten (who was originally scheduled to do it), but by Drs. Ahmad and Barmada, with Dr. Randecker assisting.
A total of three grafts were needed to treat Trombley's heart. Two of the grafts -- one used to bypass the right coronary artery and one on the left anterior descending artery -- were successful. The third graft, bypassing the first diagonal, which is also known as the ramus intermedius, closed up or failed, if it was bypassed at all. Trombley's expert claims that during this portion of the surgery Dr. Ahmad bypassed an incorrect vessel, a smaller vessel known as the second diagonal. This claim is, in part, difficult to prove given the non-detailed nature of the operative notes.
Also, during the surgery, the vein used for the grafts was harvested from Trombley's right leg, not her left one as she had requested. She was never given an explanation as to why the right leg had been used. The incision was from her knee to her groin, and after surgery the skin was lapped over rather than stitched together. This incision eventually became infected. Trombley underwent plastic surgery to remove dead tissue from the wound and to stitch up the incision.
Trombley did not recover well from her heart surgery. She had trouble breathing and returned to the hospital for a week, where she was diagnosed with an arterial fibrillation problem. She had three angioplasties between February of 1992 and December of 1994. During this period, she was often tired and suffered from severe chest pains.
B. Proceedings
Barbara and Dale Trombley filed this medical malpractice suit in October 1993. The defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment to dismiss Dale Trombley's claim for loss of consortium, since the Trombleys were not married when Barbara's surgery and post-operative care were performed. The trial court granted this motion, finding that Barbara Trombley "was in fact married to Keith Bradrick" on the day the surgery took place.
The defendants filed motions for summary judgment on the remaining claims based primarily on the argument that the plaintiffs' expert testimony had failed to est
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